The shocking news today that Whitehall has paid 14 times more than High Street prices for some items is ridiculous. £3,500 for a £250 computer, or £73 for a box of copier paper which costs around £8 on the High Street are just a few examples of this waste.
This goes further than just inefficiency, what it shows is just how out of touch the Government is with reality.
Since its beginnings the purpose of the House of Commons and the Members of Parliament within it, was to represent the ordinary people of the country. The House of Lords in comparison was meant to represent nobility and the view of the Crown.
Looking back through history however, this original idea seems to have been somewhat lost. Winston Churchill for example, one of the greatest Prime Ministers the country has ever seen was of aristocratic decent, coming from the Dukes of Marlborough.
While this theme was less pronounced in post war Britain, it was Margaret Thatcher, ‘the grocers daughter from Grantham’ in the 1980s who really broke the mould. As well as being a women in a mans world, her upbringing had little in common with the old boys network of many Members of Parliament; surprising at the time for a Conservative. This theme was continued by John Major in the 1990s, who unlike his predecessors, left school at 16 and was not university educated.
However, since the landslide victory by Tony Blair in 1997, and even more so with David Cameron and George Osbourne at the helm, this is no longer true. Andrew Neil argued this very case in his BBC documentary ‘Posh & Posher – Why Public School Boys Run Britain‘.
The House of Lords however, once the chamber of nobility, arguably has more representation of ordinary people. Lord Alan Sugar of Clapton, grew up on a council estate, David Cameron on the other hand, all be it distant, is related to royalty.
It is therefore no wonder many of our representatives do not bat an eyelid at paying an average persons monthly wage over the real price.
Posted by rightblueview 
RightBlueView 